Overachiever syndrome

She came in with her mother to speak with me as I was having lunch. Hailey went home after her oral Independent Study Unit performance mark was posted and was not able to speak, eat or sleep. Her cumulative grade had fallen from 97% to 95%. She was devastated. She is currently the top student of the school in grade 11.
The mother, who spoke for her 16 year old, wanted to know what could be done. I said I didn't know what to say. "Is this an issue of fairness in your view?", I queried. No. She went on to say that Hailey had prepared so much good research material, of which a lot was not used in the time allotted to present her views. I agreed that it must be frustrating to be so well prepared and not be able to use it all in the time frame given for presenting one's point of view (the ISU was a timed informal debate in groups of four). I applauded her for the quality of her arguments and her ISU mark of 90% was in my view still excellent. I just ended with "I don't know what to say". They left my office with the realization that I was not going to make some kind of concession here.
Philosophically I take issue with giving extra opportunities to students who are already well above average academically. What will happen to her psychologically and emotionally in her post-secondary studies when she is no longer always at the top of the class? 
I asked one of my colleagues whether I was missing something here, and immediately she quipped "She can't take not being first". Indeed, another very capable student scored 100% on the ISU. 
Are we educators breeding a generation of "must haves" in terms of high marks who cannot live with the "personal failure" of anything under 97%?